4th February, 2013
Former Nigerian international, Jonathan Akpoborie, has admitted that the Super Eagles have proved him wrong after they beat Ivory Coast 2-1 Sunday to reach the AFCON semi-finals.
Akpoborie has been one of the dogged critics of Coach Stephen Keshi and he said before the game that it would need a miracle for the Eagles to fly past the star-studded Elephants of Ivory Coast.
“Great win for Stephen Keshi, against all odds. I doubted them, same with a lot of Nigerians. But for me, they have exceeded all my expectations already,” Akpoborie told MTNFootball.com
“They believe in themselves and that was the magic. The Ivorians underrated them and our boys made the most of this.”
Akpoborie’s former international teammate Tijani Babangida said that the Eagles stunned the world with their display and victory yesterday.
“It was an amazing game they played; they surprised the entire world with their performance against the Ivorians. I don’t think I ever remember when our team play such a great game like this,” Babangida said.
“Mikel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi were outstanding, even the central defenders did well to keep Didier Drogba, Solomon Kalou and Gervinho at bay. In fact the entire team were wonderful. Keshi did magic to be able to motivate the players.”
However, Babangida warned the team to put behind this famous victory and focus on beating Mali on Wednesday in Rustenburg.
“The boys should forget about this game and focus on the Mali game because it will be a different ball game, Malians are younger and more energetic than the Ivorians, but with the way Eagles played, I believe they are good for the trophy now,” he said.